This Saturday marks the beginning of Forest Green Rovers’ League Two season after their relegation from League One last season. Rovers host Salford City at Eco Park, Salford looking to improve upon their positive season in 2022/23, and three points against a side who theoretically should dominate this season would be a great start to their campaign.
Forest Green had a nightmare League One season for the 2022/23 campaign. Rovers finished rock bottom of the League One table with a lengthy gap to Accrington Stanley in 23rd. With only six wins, nine draws and a staggering 31 losses, Forest Green finished the season with just 27 points. This was 17 points behind Accrington Stanley and 18 points from safety.
One of the main signings this summer has been the signing of goalkeeper Jamie Searle from Middlesbrough, along with Ryan Inniss from Charlton and Teddy Jenks from Brighton’s U21 side.
For their preseason programme, Forest Green played four games. Rovers managed one win, one draw and two losses. Forest Green opened their preseason with a 1 - 1 draw with Melksham, before suffering back-to-back losses, a 5 - 1 thrashing at the hands of Plymouth Argyle and then a 4 - 0 loss to Coventry. Rovers did bag a win in their final game before the start of the season, an impressive 2 - 0 win over West Brom.
Salford City finished seventh in League Two last season, just outside of the Play-off places. In the 46 game season, Salford managed 22 wins, nine draws and 15 losses, leaving The Ammies on 75 points, a point behind Bradford City in sixth and the last Play-off place. Salford were also just 16 points off champions Leyton Orient.
The Ammies have been busy this summer in the transfer market. Connor McLennan swapped the Scottish Premiership with Aberdeen for Salford, Curtis Tilt joined The Ammies from Wigan in League One, Luke Garbutt joined from Blackpool and goalkeeper Alex Cairns moved from Fleetwood.
Salford also only played four games for their preseason this summer, managing just one win, one draw and two losses. The preseason started well with The Ammies breezing past Radcliffe Borough 3 - 0, and then earning a 2 - 2 draw with Championship side West Brom. The two losses closed out the preseason, a 2 - 1 defeat to Bolton and then a 2 - 0 loss to Fylde.
Forest Green Rovers and Salford have met six times in their histories, with both sides being evenly matched all throughout. Rovers have won twice, Salford have also won twice with the other two matches ending in a share of the points. For this season, both teams should be on similar pace, so a draw may be a likely outcome for Saturday’s match.
However, if it does end in a draw, it is also likely to be a higher scoring draw than usual. On average in past meetings, both teams have scored an average of 2.5 goals per match. Last season Forest Green averaged 1.5 goals at home whereas Salford averaged 2.5 goals during away days.